Kurth lifts Kingsmen

December 02, 2006|MATT KOPSEA Tribune Staff Writer

MISHAWAKA -- When the going got tough Friday night, that's when Penn's Tommy Kurth was at his best. Kurth tallied eight of his game-high 16 points in the second half, helping No. 8 (Class 4-A) Penn rally for a 39-35 victory over Jimtown in boys high school basketball action at the Penn Palace. With Penn trailing 23-20 in the early stages of the third quarter, Kurth drained a 3-pointer to tie the game and later connected on another triple to give the Kingsmen (1-0) a six-point cushion. Then in the closing minute of regulation, the 6-foot sophomore point guard sparked a 5-0 run by hitting a pair of free throws. With senior standout Caleb Laidig saddled with foul trouble, Kurth's performance proved to be just what the doctor ordered for Penn coach Dean Foster. "There was no doubt we would have liked to have both of them step up, but Tommy really did a very good job for us tonight," Foster explained. "As important as he is to us handling the ball and playing defense, we (coaches) have talked about needing him to take a bigger role offensively. Tonight, he really came up big for us." It was evident right from the opening tip that this contest was going to be a defensive struggle, as the two teams combined for 18 turnovers in the first quarter. "We're both pretty good defensively, and that showed in the early going," Foster said. "They're just a very good basketball team. We had some chances to get out on them by taking the ball away from them, but then they would turn right around and take it away from us." Guilty of 10 miscues in the opening eight minutes, the Jimmies (1-1) finally settled down in the second quarter to lead by five points on a couple of occasions. Mike Landis provided the spark with seven points as Jimtown settled for a 19-18 lead at the break. A rebound basket by Derek Johnson gave the visitors a three-point advantage two minutes into the second half, but that would be their last points for almost four minutes. "I think in that four-minute span is when the game sort of got away from us," said Jimtown coach Randy DeShone. "We were in the right place, but didn't make the key plays. We also had a lot of wide-open shots, which we couldn't get to drop either." With Jimtown down by seven points early in the final period, Chris Landis pulled the Jimmies to within 33-32 by nailing a pair of 3-pointers. Once again, though, the Kingsmen would respond by hitting five of six from the charity stripe to push the margin back up to six points. Mike Landis' 3-pointer cut the deficit to 38-35 with 11 seconds left and a steal on the inbound pass gave Jimtown a chance to draw even. But this attempt by Mike Landis fell short of the mark and into the hands of Ryan Choiniere, who hit one of two free throws with 3.5 seconds left. "In that final minute, we probably got three or four good looks at the basket, but could only bury one of them," DeShone said. "I was proud of the effort our kids gave tonight. I think in the end, though, fatigue caused us to make a lot of mental errors." Mike Landis finished with 13 points and brother Chris added nine for the Jimmies. Choiniere chipped in nine points for Penn, which hosts Goshen tonight. PENN 39, JIMTOWN 35At Penn Palace JIMTOWN (35): Brian DeShone 3 0-0 6, Mike Landis 5 0-0 13, Jeremy Burns 0 0-0 0, Chris Landis 3 0-0 9, Caleb Pettis 1 1-3 4, Tony Byers 0 0-0 0, Aaron Griffey 0 1-4 1, Derek Johnson 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 13 2-7 35. PENN (39): Tommy Kurth 4 6-7 16, Ryan Choiniere 3 3-7 9, John Green 0 0-0 0, Kyle Hakanen 0 0-0 0, Pat Hess 0 0-0 0, Caleb Laidig 2 1-2 6, Danny Williams 3 0-0 6, Jason Wright 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 13 10-16 39. Jimtown 6 19 26 35 Penn 10 18 31 39 3-point goals: Jimtown 7 (M. Landis 3, C. Landis 3, Pettis), Penn 3 (Kurth 2, Laidig). Total fouls: Jimtown 19, Penn 11. Shooting: Jimtown 13-of-35 (37 percent), Penn 13-of-28 (46 percent). Rebounds: Jimtown 21 (Griffey 7), Penn 21 (Williams 6). Turnovers: Jimtown 17, Penn 17. JV score: Penn 30 (Ben Bontrager 8, Chris Chaffee 8), Jimtown 15 (Nick Henkler 6). Varsity records: Jimtown 1-1, Penn 1-0. Officials: Tim Mills, Greg Yergler.Staff writer Matt Kopsea: mkopsea@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6315